Event #78: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship Day 1 | 2025 World Series of Poker

07-01-2025 10:21 UTC-8

Barang Picks Up; Bennett Left Hanging On

Laura Fryer

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

John Zentner opened to 600 from the hijack and Elmar Barang called on the button. Dessiree Bennett folded the small blind with only around 10 big blinds remaining in her stack.

The 5♥5♦4♣ flop was check-called by Zentner after Barang bet 600.

Barang get 2,600 after Zentner checked on the 2♠ turn. Zentner folded and Barang took the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeremy Ferguson	62,500 62,500	62,500
Elmar Barang	32,500 32,500	32,500
David Vago	32,300 32,300	32,300
Rudijanto Soetikno	27,500 27,500	27,500
John Zentner	27,000 27,000	27,000
Ivan Vepritskiy	24,800 24,800	24,800
Dessiree Bennett	1,700 1,700	1,700

Tags: Dessiree Bennett Elmar Barang John Zentner

07-01-2025 10:24 UTC-8

Not That Painful

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Gabrielle Barredo

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Joel Gossett opened to 500 from hijack and got two callers in Martin Staszko in cutoff and Jose Manso in the big blind.

All three saw a flop of 10♠7♥J♦. After a check, Gossett continued with another 500. Both Staszko and Manso stayed on.

All three checked the turn 8♣. On the river 9♦, Gossett resumed the pressure with a 2,200 telling both Staszko and Manso that it wasn't that painful, urging them to call. Both conceded their hands and the pot to Gossett.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jose Manso	37,000 37,000	37,000
Martin Staszko	35,500 35,500	35,500
Joel Gossett	27,600 27,600	27,600

Tags: Joel Gossett Jose Manso Martin Staszko

07-01-2025 10:24 UTC-8

Lamontagne Catches Two Pair

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Gabrielle Barredo

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

Michael Delaney limped in middle position and small blind Varadarajan Iyengar did the same. Big blind Michael Lamontagne defended by raising to 700 making Delaney fold. Iyengar called.

The flop dropped 10♣7♦A♦. Iyengar check-called Lamontagne's bet for 800.

On the turn K♥, Iyeangar checked once again. Lamontagne fired 3,000 which was enough to make Iyengar fold. Lamontagne showed A♠7♠ as he scooped the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Lamontagne	53,500
Michael Delaney	24,500
Varadarajan Iyengar	8,000

Tags: Michael Delaney Michael Lamontagne Varadarajan Iyengar

Level: 3

Blinds: 200/300

Ante: 300

07-01-2025 10:33 UTC-8

James Forces a Fold from To

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Barry Russell

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

There was roughly 7,000 chips in the pot on a board of 5♦9♣3♠.

Larry James in the cutoff bet 2,500, Tuong To called on the button, Jason Waugh folded in the big blind and Craig Lecompte folded from early position.

James forced a fold on the 7♥ turn after betting 5,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Danny Burgess	74,700 74,700	74,700
Larry James	44,000 44,000	44,000
Angel Garcia	30,000 30,000	30,000
Jason Waugh	29,000 29,000	29,000
Tuong To	17,400 17,400	17,400
Craig Lecompte	11,400 11,400	11,400
Shohei Yokoyama	9,600 9,600	9,600

Tags: Craig Lecompte Jason Waugh Larry James Tuong To

07-01-2025 10:34 UTC-8

Martinovic's Nuts Stay Nuts

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Jacob Wilson

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Action was picked up on the turn, with a board reading 3♦4♣2♥8♣ and three players still with hole cards. Michael Maruna had bet out for 5,000 into a pot of around 12,000, with Deshan Woods making the call. Marjan Martinovic then raised to 25,000, which was enough to put the other two at risk should they make the call.

After some tanking, Maruna called all in, much to the dismay of Woods.

"Oh my god," he said, laughing. "I don't know what you guys have but I'm folding," he said, tabling A♦8♦ for top pair, top kicker. As it turned out, he made the correct fold.

Michael Maruna: J♥J♦ All in
Marjan Martinovic: 6♥5♥

Maruna was drawing dead, as the straight of Martinovic was the flopped nuts, still the nuts on the turn, and on the 10♦ river, too.

Player	Chips	Progress
Marjan Martinovic	76,000 76,000	76,000
Andrew Smyth	60,300 60,300	60,300
Lucas Peterson	31,000 31,000	31,000
Brian Wardrup	29,500 29,500	29,500
Deshan Woods	21,500 21,500	21,500
Nicolas Zacair	18,400 18,400	18,400
Michael Maruna	Busted

Tags: Deshan Woods Marjan Martinovic Stephen DeVault

07-01-2025 10:40 UTC-8

Zaldo Doubled Through Tedla

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Laura Fryer

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Players were already on the river with the cards flipped over, Meraf Tedla under the gun and Javier Zaldo in the cutoff.

Javier Zaldo: 9♥9♠ All in
Meraf Tedla: A♥8♠

The 9♦2♦A♠A♦10♠ board saw Zaldo Double up with the boat, beating Tedla's trip Aces.

Tedla ended the hand under ten big blinds.

Player	Chips	Progress
Javier Zaldo	48,500 48,500	48,500
Meraf Tedla	2,500 2,500	2,500

Tags: Javier Zaldo Meraf Tedla

07-01-2025 10:49 UTC-8

Savulescu Chops with Zaldo

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Laura Fryer

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Maria Savulescu opened from middle position to 700 and Javier Zaldo called the hijack. Meraf Tedla also called from the big blind.

The K♥10♣A♠ flop was checked to the Q♣ turn.

Tedla checked, Savulescu bet 1,300 and Zaldo raised to 4,500. Tedla folded and Savulescu reraised to 11,300.

Zaldo moved all in and covered after Savulescu snap-called.

Maria Savulescu: Q♦J♦ All in
Javier Zaldo: J♥J♣

Zaldo and Savulescu were looking at a chop, as both were sitting with the straight.

The 9♥ was placed and the players both pulled back their stacks.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anton Perkovic	62,000 62,000	62,000
Javier Zaldo	49,500 1,000	1,000
Yarom Limor	32,000 32,000	32,000
Theodore Wayland	31,700 31,700	31,700
Maria Savulescu	28,800 28,800	28,800
Laura Westfall	27,500 27,500	27,500

Meraf Tedla	1,800 700	700

Tags: Javier Zaldo Maria Savulescu Meraf Tedla

07-01-2025 10:51 UTC-8

Broadway Brings Back Beilleul

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Jacob Wilson

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

Romain Beilleul and Alexander Neumann were heads up on a board of 3♠Q♦J♥. Neumann bet out for 1,200, before Beilleul jammed for 9,100. Neumann made the call quickly.

Romain Beilleul: A♥10♠ All in
Alexander Neumann: K♠J♣

Beilleul needed some help that didn't arrive on the 3♥ turn. The K♣ river, however, improved both players. Neumann made two pair, but it was Beilleul's ace-high straight that gave him the win, just as he was ready to leave.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Hess	59,000 59,000	59,000
Brenda Neether	57,700 57,700	57,700
Joseph Sabo	51,200 51,200	51,200
Alexander Neumann	26,600 26,600	26,600

Romain Beilleul	22,000 22,000	22,000
Scott Kyle	18,400 18,400	18,400
Alexandre Peich	6,800 6,800	6,800

Tags: Alexander Neumann Romain Beilleul

07-01-2025 10:52 UTC-8

Thank You for Playing the PokerNews Deepstack Championship!

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Yori Epskamp

Level 3 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

At PokerNews, we always love to go the extra mile for our fans. When the opportunity presented itself last year to attach our name to a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet event, the $600 Deepstack Championship, we jumped right at the chance to go above and beyond to celebrate those achieving the pinnacle of poker success.

Sponsoring an event of this magnitude is a rare privilege, which is why PokerNews once again has added unique, commemorative, and, above all, valuable extra prizes to what's already going to be a bumper field of thousands with a prize pool exceeding seven figures.

An Exclusive Extra Prize: A 24-Karat Gold Winner's Coin

To make this event even more special, the winner will not only receive the coveted bracelet and a six-figure first-place prize, but will also get their hands on a unique 24-karat gold PokerNews Deepstack Championship winner's coin.

This isn't just any prize: only two have ever been made, and you could get your hands on one by showcasing your poker prowess against the world's best players.

Last year, UK's Hector Berry did just that, topping a field of a whopping 5,110 players to win $282,876, the gold bracelet, and the special gold coin to commemorate his incredible achievement. Watch how Berry experienced his victory last year below.

In addition to the gold coin for the winner, every player at the final table will receive a silver PokerNews coin as a reward for their incredible achievement.

Best of luck to everyone in the hunt today, and from the entire PokerNews team: thank you for participating in the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Championship and the Daily Deepstacks.